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Star Wars Exhibit at Space Center
Jul. 12th, 2010 09:30 pmMy dad and I took the boys to the US Space & Rocket Center today to see the traveling exhibit - Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.
We arrived a bit early for our 10am scheduled time, so I talked the guys into going into the new building that houses the Saturn V (one of two actual test rockets still around today). The last time I saw the rocket, it was sitting outside along the back of the property. It was truly beautiful seeing it inside, all cleaned up, hanging overhead. It seemed much bigger than my memory.
While walking the length of the building, there was a table set to one side and a staff member behind it. He asked the boys if they wanted to launch a rocket. They bit the bait and the guy's science lesson started. What the instructor didn't realize was that Calvin loves science. So, when he mentioned Newton, Calvin said he knew Newton and then proceeded to rattle off Newton's Third Law (every action has an equal and opposite reaction). The instructor chuckled and went back to his planned lesson. However, from this point forward, it was rare that he was able to finish a sentence. Calvin kept interrupting him to finish his statement and would often build off of those statements and get ahead of what the instructor was telling him and Nigel. At least Calvin is getting more polite about this sort of thing...but either way, Dad and I were very proud of Calvin's display of scientific knowledge.
Once we were inside the Star Wars area, Dad followed Nigel while I stuck with Calvin. The exhibit is about 2/3 Star Wars stuff and 1/3 Star Wars-inspired science activities. Calvin ricocheted around the room too excited to look at something for more than a few seconds until noticing another object on the other side of the room that he had to get a closer look at. At one point, Calvin had to flee from a Droideka battle droid.
Click the image a couple of times for a much
bigger (and better) version of the image.
Nigel, surprisingly, showed little interest in the Star Wars models, costumes, and other memorabilia...it were the Star Wars-inspired science stuff that kept him happy. There was one area where you got to build your own R2 unit and then program him on how to get through an obstacle course. Another area had you put together mag-lev vehicles out of Legos and magnets. Dad said that despite getting him to pose in front of a cabinet with a couple of Wookie costumes, that Nigel was actually quite scared of the Wookies and kept his distance when walking around the two cabinets.
This is one token sentence to summarize the experience after we left the Star Wars exhibit area as psychologically challenging and an exercise in patience.
I highly recommend anyone that loves Star Wars or has kids older than 5 should find the money and the time to see this exhibit.
We arrived a bit early for our 10am scheduled time, so I talked the guys into going into the new building that houses the Saturn V (one of two actual test rockets still around today). The last time I saw the rocket, it was sitting outside along the back of the property. It was truly beautiful seeing it inside, all cleaned up, hanging overhead. It seemed much bigger than my memory.
While walking the length of the building, there was a table set to one side and a staff member behind it. He asked the boys if they wanted to launch a rocket. They bit the bait and the guy's science lesson started. What the instructor didn't realize was that Calvin loves science. So, when he mentioned Newton, Calvin said he knew Newton and then proceeded to rattle off Newton's Third Law (every action has an equal and opposite reaction). The instructor chuckled and went back to his planned lesson. However, from this point forward, it was rare that he was able to finish a sentence. Calvin kept interrupting him to finish his statement and would often build off of those statements and get ahead of what the instructor was telling him and Nigel. At least Calvin is getting more polite about this sort of thing...but either way, Dad and I were very proud of Calvin's display of scientific knowledge.
Once we were inside the Star Wars area, Dad followed Nigel while I stuck with Calvin. The exhibit is about 2/3 Star Wars stuff and 1/3 Star Wars-inspired science activities. Calvin ricocheted around the room too excited to look at something for more than a few seconds until noticing another object on the other side of the room that he had to get a closer look at. At one point, Calvin had to flee from a Droideka battle droid.
Click the image a couple of times for a much
bigger (and better) version of the image.
Nigel, surprisingly, showed little interest in the Star Wars models, costumes, and other memorabilia...it were the Star Wars-inspired science stuff that kept him happy. There was one area where you got to build your own R2 unit and then program him on how to get through an obstacle course. Another area had you put together mag-lev vehicles out of Legos and magnets. Dad said that despite getting him to pose in front of a cabinet with a couple of Wookie costumes, that Nigel was actually quite scared of the Wookies and kept his distance when walking around the two cabinets.
This is one token sentence to summarize the experience after we left the Star Wars exhibit area as psychologically challenging and an exercise in patience.
I highly recommend anyone that loves Star Wars or has kids older than 5 should find the money and the time to see this exhibit.
